....... Back on September 9, 2009 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/video/President-Obama-Address-to-Congress-on-Health-Insurance-Reform#transcript), President Obama called together a joint session of Congress to listen to him talk about his Obamacare plan. This large-scale PR effort was based on the notion that Obamacare wouldn’t just keep deficits neutral, it would actually cut them. Here’s what Obama said:

And here's what you need to know. First, I will not sign a plan that adds one dime to our deficits -- either now or in the future. (Applause.) I will not sign it if it adds one dime to the deficit, now or in the future, period. And to prove that I'm serious, there will be a provision in this plan that requires us to come forward with more spending cuts if the savings we promised don't materialize …. This plan will not add to our deficit.

Why take on health care in the middle of an economic crisis? Obama answered:

This was nonsense when he spoke it. What private citizens spend on health care does not contribute to the national deficit; what the government does contributes to our national deficit. Reform of Medicare and Medicaid was and is necessary, of course, but Obamacare was never designed to cut deficits – it was designed to grow them......